Alyssin
=Appearance= Alyssin is fairly short for a Cimmerian woman, oft-times barely meeting the shoulders of the males of her homeland, a fact that occasionally bothers her. As a soldier, she works hard to maintain a fit body, but has inherited plenty of the softness of her mother in the form of her plush curves - a trait she has mixed feelings about, sadly. For a time, the young woman wore her pale hair, the colour of early snow on a crips day, in a long ponytail but recently has taken to leaving it loose, after cutting it somewhat shorter than it had been through her teens. Dark blue eyes, like sapphires shining with an inner electricity, peer forth to take in the world warily; even when at her most relaxed, caution can be seen in Alyssin's gaze, a caution learned by hardship. Marring her smooth complexion, a sepia-hued woad divides her face along the center from top to bottom; a Cimmerian symbolism for 'Fox' or 'Hunts like the Fox', and so given to her by her parents upon attaining her adulthood. In general the young Cimmirian woman disdains jewelry and other accoutremants, but can occasionally be seen wearing a ring bestowed to her by her dead father, or a necklace inherited from her mother. Aside from that, she remains unaddorned. As is typical of Cimmerians she tends towards leather and fur in her clothing with browns, greens and greys being a common colour; comfortable and inexpensive, and quite practical when spending a lot of time in the wilderness. That being said, however, she does not disdain garments of a more prismatic nature altogether and has a small wardrobe of more colourful (and interesting) clothing in her home at Hedonia Springs. =Personality= As noted, Alyssin is generally Good in alignment, though not particularly lawful in nature. The woman is willing to help those in need, unless it detracts from a mission of greater need. Aly can be charitable, helpful and kind without thought, as well as polite. Gregarious when not focused on a task or within her own thoughts. However, this is under optimum circumstances. Aly has been through a few hardships in her life, and it has left her at times introspective, occasionally depressed, and sometimes almost the opposite of her normal nature. While this can be useful on the field of battle, it at-times manifests itself under more civilized conditions. Anger, paranoia war with a hint of arrogance and selfishness, and too often she barely realizes, or remembers, her actions and reactions. Those times she does remember, however, she goes to great lengths to make ammends, generally genuinely apologetic for her behaviour (unless she continues to feel otherwise, of course). With her usually outgoing nature Aly is always willing to make new friends and aquiantences, particularly if a pretty face catches her eye, but even otherwise. Aly 'works', so to speak, hard at living up to being an officer of The Hedonists; rarely is she willing to turn down a new experiance, and has over the years developed an eager appetite for many differant things. Having helped to form a Guild revolving around this sort of lifestyle has been on of the young woman's great joys, surpassed only by the growing love for her mate. =History= For a woman so young, Alyssin's history is fairly long. As such, she only provides a short summary here, not wanting to reveal too much all at once. Aly was born on a small homestead in the upper part of Conall Valley twenty years ago on a cold night in the middle of winter, her mother Breiada's second child and first daughter. Breiada was a midwife and healer, while her father a skilled hunter known well through-out the valley as being the best tracker of his generation. The night of her birth, a winter fox vixen living in a small den beneath the stairs of their homestead also gave birth: Breiada considered this a good omen, and gave her own daughter the name Alyssin, meaning 'Kit of the Winter Fox' in an ancient dialect. A few years later, Alyssin gained a sister, Kiye. The family lived happily, in harmony with both the world of the Valley and with their neighbors, distant members of Clan Moagh. Aly grew into a spry and athletic young woman, very much taking after her father in her natural skill with the bow and learnign quickly how to identify and follow tracks, even through a winter-fall. Although she seemed happy, and eager to follow her fathers footsteps, Aly knew that she didn't feel entirely right. That rightness became much worse when her father announced that she was promised to the first son of a Clan-lord in the next valley over, to the north-west. Despite pleas and even anger, Aly's father was resolute, and in time the young woman seemed to accept it despite evidence of not liking it one bit. Then, one night a few months after her Rite of Passage into adulthood, she left her fathers homestead, stealing off into the night with a few possessions and a few copper coins. Drawing on her skills as a ranger, she evaded her fathers kinfolk and managed to slip out of Cimmeria altogether, southwards into Aquilonia first and then Ophir, plying her skills as a mercenary scout. By some twist of fate, Aly found herself back in Cimmeria perhaps three years later, part of a guard force for a too-paranoid merchant, and it was then that she learned the news: the Vanir, led (some say pushed) by the Ymir half-giants, had invaded the Conall Valley area, claming most of it as their territory and putting many of its inhabitants to the sword. Soon after she left her Company to search out her family and childhood home. It had been burned to the ground and looted, with bodies of many of her kinfolk still there, some half-eaten and frozen by winter frosts. Mother, father, both brothers, close cousins and friends. Frantically, she searched for signs of her sister Kiye, but found none - she'd heard tales of the Vanir taking young woman (and, occasionally, men) back to their camps to be slaves to them, or worse. This was all too much for the proud Cimmerian, and sent her into a rage. Supresing much of herself, Alyssin spent the bulk of the next two years fighting against the Vanir, never able to reclaim her home but sending many of them to the grave. Never was she able to find her sister, amongst all of the slaves she managed to find and free, which weighed upon her more and more. OCcasionally, she'd 'snap out of it' and seem to return almost to normal, almost carefree and warm. Then, something would happen, a sound would be heard, and she'd return to the driven ways of her near-personal war. Finally though, exhaustion took its toll, as did hopelessness, and the young ranger spent nearly a month in a dark, deep depression, holed away apart from her own people. What she went through there, she has never revealed, only that as suddenly as she disappeared, she re-appeared, seemingly whole and healthy. Not necessarily happy, but not the bleak, cold-hearted killer that she had been, consumed by revenge. It was a short time after her return that she rather unexpectedly, found her lost sister. Years of searching, and she'd been nearby all along, practically under her nose. This brought about another profound change in Alyssin, although to this day the heat of rage still simmers below the surface. A short time ago, in the grand scheme of things, Alyssin met a small group of wanderers, adventurers really, seeking both pleasures and experiances in life. Something about their search, their goals and desires, caught with the ranger and she agreed to travel with them, and to help them form a new Company: The Hedonists, a name proposed by the troupes leader Gliss, and readily accepted by the rest. Afterall, why hide what they seek? In helping to create this new Company, Alyssin found a new home for herself, a new place to be to replace the one she'd lost so many years early. Indeed, this spiritual home has become a physical home as well, with the creation of their guild-sponsored village Hedonia, located on a cluster of natural hot-springs in Lancteish Plains. Two things of recent note, that have greatly influenced this Cimmerians outlook on life. Of lesser import is Alyssins recent change in profession. For years she was as scout and ranger of some skill, but as noted earlier, she never felt truely comfortable as such. After much discussion with her guild-sisters and her beloved, Alyssin recently gave up the bow and dagger and took up the iron mantle of the Conquerer. In this she has excelled, finding herself far more comfortable, happy and at home on the field of battle than she had in the past. Wading into a melee, her heavy sword swinging in wide arcs, seems to bring a joy to her that little else save her obsession for Nocturnum or feelings for Kiye can.